Fall River families struggle to piece lives back together after mass eviction at shuttered apartments

On June 19, Jessica Bolieiro received a frantic phone call from her mother-in-law telling her to come home immediately to their apartment at 265 County St., one of two apartment buildings condemned that day by the city, leaving 41 people homeless.

On June 19, Jessica Bolieiro received a frantic phone call from her mother-in-law telling her to come home immediately to their apartment at 265 County St., one of two apartment buildings condemned that day by the city, leaving 41 people homeless.

Bolieiro, an Army veteran and nursing school student who is eight months pregnant with a 19-month-old child and a new husband, rushed home still dressed in her nursing scrubs to find her husband, Joshua Bolieiro, and her in-laws, Robert and Diane Silvia, feverishly trying to move out as many belongings, including the baby’s crib, within the two-hour deadline given by city officials.

“I was shocked,” Jessica Bolieiro said.

Diane Silvia said the residents didn’t get any warning before the water was shut off by the city. Then, two hours later, the city officials, along with police and fire personnel, ordered them to move from the premises.

Unlike some of tenants residing at the condemned properties owned by landlord David Colville, the Bolieiro and Silvia families weren’t receiving housing benefits from HomeBASE, a homeless prevention program provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Some of the benefits were paid directly to Colville, who owes the city $500,000 in back taxes and a $30,000 outstanding water bill. Other money was paid by seven families living at the condemned 265-267 County St. apartments, which indirectly benefitted Colville like rental payment assistance.

Colville’s properties have long been accused of being a den of criminal activity, including drug dealing, gangs and prostitution. A week before the condemnation, there was a report of shots fired at the site.

This week, in a Herald News interview, Mayor Will Flanagan, who orchestrated condemning the buildings, criticized the DHCD and other anti-homeless programs for housing clients in substandard living conditions and bringing homeless people to Fall River. In a city already facing economic obstacles, Flanagan said, “I don’t want it.”

Joshua Bolieiro read the mayor’s statement and said it angered him.

“We weren’t homeless until he made us that way,” he said.

His mother agreed.

“Granted, it was not the best place to live but it was a roof over our heads,” said Diane Silvia, who had lived just four months in her County Street apartment a floor above her son and daughter-in-law.

She and her husband were looking for another place to live before being displaced, Diane Silvia said.

Like some of the other 14 displaced families, which included 17 children, the two families were housed in the Swansea Motor Inn and their stay was funded by the city. Payments ended Thursday for seven families who are clients of the HomeBASE program.

According to DHCD spokesman Matthew Sheaff, the agency will continue to pay for the displaced families’ motel rooms until they can find permanent housing.

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“We continue to work with our partner agencies as well as our counterparts in city of Fall River to work towards a smooth transition (for displaced families) in a timely and respectful manner,” Sheaff said.

Outside agencies and organizations have offered families some help with food and other needs, but many are struggling, Joshua Bolieiro said.

Colville returned $1,200 for one month’s rent and damage deposit to the Bolieiro family, he said.

“I’ve been trying to help my family and other people as much as I can and this is what I have left,” said Joshua Bolieiro, holding up a single $100 bill.

For both the Bolieiro and Silvia families, things are improving.

The city’s veterans agent Raymond Hague and Community Development Agency Director Michael Dion “have been absolutely wonderful helping us get through thick and thin,” said Jessica Bolieiro, whose family is moving on Friday into their new residence due to her status as an Army veteran.

Thanks to Swansea Catholic Social Services, Robert and Diane Silvia are also closer to a permanent residence.

What’s made the situation even harder, Robert Silvia said, is the stigma it has left on his family and others.

“We’re being affiliated with all the criminals; we’ve been treated like we’re gang members,” he said.